Issue - meetings

Members gave consideration to the Internal Audit Annual Report 2021/22. The report aimed to provide a summary of the audit work undertaken over the past year. The report included an opinion on the overall adequacy of and effectiveness of the governance framework and internal control system and the extent to which the Council could rely on it. The report further advised on how the plan was discharged and of overall outcomes of the work undertaken. Finally, it drew attention Members' attention to any issues particularly relevant to the Annual Governance Statement.

Key messages highlighted to the Committee included the Auditor's overall opinion. For the twelve months ended 31 March 2022, the Council's arrangements for governance, risk management and control framework continued to be strong.

In presenting the report, the Auditor advised that it had been another challenging year for the Council – responding, supporting and recovering from the pandemic. Its systems and processes had operated effectively during this time, both remotely and more recently in a hybrid way, with staff working at home and in the office. The Auditor highlighted the continued level of high assurance but stated that remote working had elongated the auditing processes for several issues assessed.

Debate ensued, and Members congratulated the team for their work. In addition to the findings of the Annual Report, results showed that most services performed well, and only a few performed adequately.

In response to a query about the combined assurance and issues with communication between different departments, the Auditor stated that the Audit Team were adapting to working longer and flexibly in hybrid working. The Auditor was keen to stress the level of work, with the Section 151 Officer offering to take up any issues with communication. Responding to a comment about communication to Officers, the Chairman suggested that the recently published yearbook helped support Members' enquiries to the responsible Officers.

Having been moved and, seconded, on being put to the vote it was unanimously

            RESOLVED that: -

(a)   having considered the Head of Audit’s Annual Report and Opinion for 2021/2022 no further actions had been identified; and

(b)   the Annual Report and the Head of Internal Audit's opinion would be taken into account by the Committee, when considering the Council's Annual Governance Statement 2021/22.